Ridin’ High at the Ranch draws more than 170 racers
The annual Ridin’ High at the Ranch, hosted by the Susanville Area Bicycle Association, drew about 170 racers to Susanville Ranch Park Saturday, May 29.
The event features three categories and the scoring for the event was conducted by Linda Powell’s Bizz Johnson Running Company. The race is part of the California Dirt Mountain Bike Series.
During the three waves, riders biked the well-maintained trails of Ranch Park. Cat 1 riders faced a challenging course of 25.5 miles, Cat 2 riders faced a course of 17 miles and Cat 3 riders took on a course of 8.5 miles.
Participants from California, Nevada, Oregon and even Texas hit the trails, and 16 hailed from Lassen County.
In the Cat 1 race, Sean Buehler earned 12th place in the men’s 50-59 division with a time of 02:24:06.01.
In the Cat 1 men’s 60+ race, two locals, raced. Frank Winters finished first in the category, with a time of 01:58:05.16. Mark Kovacic finished sixth, with a time of 02:22:17.16.
In the Cat 2 race, there were three local riders.
In the female 40+ race, Diane Rittmeister finished second, with a time of 01:40:58.62 and Jennifer Churchill placed sixth with a time of 02:02:49.16.
In the men’s 30-39 race, Ben Parish finished fifth, with a time of 01:57:48.47.
Additionally, there were 10 local riders in the Cat 3 race.
In the Cat 3 female 30-39 race, local Stephanie Casteel and Dawn Mateo took the top two spots on the podium. Casteel finished first with a time of 01:02:14.79 and Mateo followed with 01:52:41.90.
In the female 40+ category, Shayla Ashmore nabbed third place on the podium with a time of 00:58:57.50.
In the same category, Lisa Marie Urquizu finished fourth with a time of 01:01:07.95, and Carol Growdon came in sixth with a time of 01:08:29.59.
Dean Growdon placed fourth in the Cat 3 men’s 40-49 race, with a time of 00:54:19.16 and Matt Urquizu finished seventh with a time of 01:11:05.43.
Snagging first place in the Cat 3 men’s 60+ race, Rod McCollough finished with a time of 00:57:28.20.
In the Cat 3 men’s jr. 8-14 race, Connor Shepherd finished 14th with a time of 00:59:24.57 and Mark Hart finished 16 with a time of 01:09:57.58.
